The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1887-08-11
ARE THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF
sTEARNS COUNTY TO BE SUP
PRESSED?
A Statement of the Situation at Melrose

A Statement of the Situation at Melrose.
For the past fifteen years the pub
lie school in the village of Melrose
has been classed as the best common
school in this county outside of the
independent school system of St.
Cloud and Sank Centre. At the
annual school meeting held Satur-
day evening, July 10th 1887, X v.
Father William, pastor Of the Ger
man Catholic church of the village,
accompanied by a large portion OF
his congregation, appeared by pre-
concerted arrangement among them
selves and voted down the usual
term of school in our district from
nine months to five months, and
elected one of their number clerk,
and by virtue of his Office one of the
trustees of the district, turning out a
faithful and competent officer who
had honorably served in that ca
pacity for twenty-five years. AS has
been customary only few of those
n favor of public schools were pre-
sent, none of them having any init
nation that an attempt was to be
made to vote down the school. On
Monday morning, after the people o
Melrose discovered that their public
school privileges had been trampled
upon in such a clandestine manner by
crowd many of whom were not legal
voters, they made a request to have a
special school meeting called for
Saturday evening, July 3oth for the
purpose of extending the term of
school to nine months and voting an
additional tax of $500 for conducting
the same. AT this meeting Rev.
William again appeared with as many
of his congregation as he could in
tiuence by personal solicitation, in
Guiding even all the sisters of ST..
Benedict, o. S. B. in the village.
The result of the vote was liz in
favor of nine months school and
I2I against This result was accomp-
lished by the persistent appeals Of
Rev. William to his congregation,
both in public sermons in his church
and by private calls at the homes of
every member of his congregation,
with but one or two exceptions, rep
resenting that the public schools
would injure their parochial school
over which he had charge, and also
misrepresenting that the expense of
conducting the public school of the
district the past year in Melrose had
exceeded the sum of $4,000 90, when
as matter of fact the entire expense
of conducting the school for the past
year as appears by the sworn state.
ment of the school treasurer was just
$lo14.14 of which amount 1881
was received from the state appor.
tlonment fund. In addition 10 the
above influence, was added the per.
sonal appeals and the most earnest
solicitation of the three bankers OIL
Melrose, their cashier, the latter OF
whom neither paid last year one cent
of taxes in this village or is he likely
to for the year to come. And
to this array OF strength you may add,
if you please, the merchants of the
village with two or three exceptions:
1t is noteworthy, in this connection,
that the bank OF Melrose went to
the expense of getting the clerk Of
the district court from St. Cloud to
be at this bank on the day of school
meeting to issue naturalization papers
to al foreigners who had not hereto
fore declared their intentions
to become citizens of the United
States, so that their first legal vote in
this free country should be
against free schools. The people OF
this heretofore peaceable and pros
porous village who believe in public
schools, are not disheartened in the
least by the result of this meeting,
and have called another special
school meeting to be held August
18th, at which meeting the vote will
be taken on extending the term OF
public school to nine and half
months and voting an additional tax
of $4,000 for conducting the same.
To the honor of the Irish and French,
and part of the German Catholics it
can be said that they united heartily
with the American born citizens in the
noble effort put forth for public
schools. This school question is a
matter not only OF vital importance
to the citizens of Melrose. but wi
apply equally to every school district
in Stearns county as we'll as in the
entire state of Minnesota. The fore
going statement as to the actual situa
ton of the public school matters al
Melrose was adopted and approved
at a meeting of the legal voters o.
the district who were in favor of free
schools, and Its publication requested
in the county papers and also in tho
st. Paul Daily Pioneer Press, Globe
Northwestern Chronicle, Minneapolis
Daily Tribune and Evening Journal.
LYMAN PRAIRIE,